“So we still lost…”
When Snorlax and Pikachu collapsed, Ash blanked out for a moment, but he wasn’t too discouraged. He was no longer a rookie and understood the gap between himself and an Elite Four.
Actually, the fact that Ash managed to hold on this long was already pretty good. Togepi and Froakie’s Rainbow Field tactic was the primary technique they used when battling together. The two Pokémon had already become extremely proficient with it, perfectly borrowing the power of the rainbow to maximize the additional effects of their moves and unleash the greatest destructive power possible. This tactic alone had already disgusted plenty of their “sparring partners.”
“Good luck in the upcoming Silver Conference.”
After recalling Togepi and Froakie, Terrance encouraged Ash.
But if Ash continued relying solely on Pikachu to carry the team, becoming Champion probably wouldn’t be that easy.
“I’ll work hard.”
As he answered Terrance, Ash recalled Snorlax and comforted it a couple of times before picking up Pikachu, planning to head to the Pokémon Center for treatment.
Misty and Brock accompanied Ash, while Albus and Fujiki stayed behind.
“You seem to think highly of him, but aside from being able to use Aura power, what’s so special about Ash compared to other Trainers?” Albus stepped forward a few paces. Since Ash was heading to the Pokémon Center, his battle with Ash was naturally postponed as well.
“Maybe. Sooner or later, you’ll discover what makes him shine, though it’s still a little early right now.” Terrance himself didn’t really know how to explain it.
Compared to Johto-era Ash, Terrance was more looking forward to how this timeline’s Ash would perform during the Kalos era. A few years later, even if he didn’t become a Top Trainer, as long as a few of his Pokémon entered top-tier, with Ash’s drive, he would probably still be able to add a bit of excitement to this world.
“Forget it, forget it, let’s hurry to the banquet.” Albus rubbed his stomach and also tossed the battle with Ash to the back of his mind, planning to wait until tomorrow instead.
Because of Ash and Terrance’s battle, the group had been delayed a bit. However, with Terrance’s help after they hurried over, Pikachu recovered very quickly, allowing everyone to make it to the banquet without being late.
The banquet carefully prepared by Queen Ilene was intended to win over Ash and Albus. As for Terrance, the Elite Four, although he was treated very well too, Terrance felt like something was off.
“This woman…”
Internally grumbling about Queen Ilene constantly surrounding Ash and Albus, Terrance didn’t pay much attention to it. If Albus could build a connection with Queen Ilene, it would be beneficial for him. But Ash… with how slow-witted he was, Terrance figured he’d probably end up spending his life with only Pikachu.
After the banquet ended, everyone rested well. According to their arrangement, early the next morning they planned to head to the Tree of Beginning in search of Mew.
…
…
“Halt. Entry onto this mountain path is forbidden.”
On the way to the Tree of Beginning, before Terrance’s group had even left Rota Street, they were stopped by a squad of armored soldiers.
This group carried an imposing aura that made people instinctively stay away, but Terrance and Albus didn’t think much of it. Guards of this level posed no difficulty at all if they truly wanted to sneak through…
“We have Queen Ilene’s pass.” This wasn’t Ash’s first time heading there. Skillfully, he took out Queen Ilene’s token and handed it over.
“It is indeed Queen Ilene’s token. You may pass.” The leading soldier accepted the letter, looked over Ash and the others for a moment, then nodded and allowed them through.
After passing through layer upon layer of inspection, Terrance and the others finally began approaching the Tree of Beginning. And after Ash’s explanation, they came to understand what made this mountain range different.
“There are a lot of wild Pokémon inside, and capturing them is forbidden. Also, once we reach the mountain path area, we might run into attacks from Regirock, so we need to be careful.”
After Ash finished speaking, Terrance, Albus, and Fujiki nodded, though they weren’t overly worried. As for Brock and Misty, since they had already been here before, they were very familiar with the area and voluntarily walked ahead to lead the way.
Once they left the Rota Street area and entered the wilderness, the number of wild Pokémon increased dramatically, and the variety of species was extremely rich as well.
“The Pokémon here are all developing quite well…” Terrance said in surprise after seeing a row of Geodude hopping past side by side.
“That’s right. Not only that, but the Pokémon here rarely show aggression,” Brock said. “Maybe it’s because of the environment here. They rarely need to compete for food, and since life is very comfortable, there are very few evolved Pokémon.”
“I see.”
As the group advanced, they admired the scenery while listening to Ash and the others explain in detail about their previous experience entering this place.
But before they had walked very far, a Pidgeot suddenly landed atop a nearby mountain slope and looked toward Ash and the others.
The Pidgeot’s arrival was abrupt and completely silent, but Terrance, Albus, and Ash still noticed it immediately. The latter two were Aura users, while Terrance was a Psychic user, making their perception far sharper than that of ordinary people.
“Pidgeot? This Pidgeot is huge…” Terrance and the others stopped walking, and Brock’s group also halted, following their gaze.
After judging carefully, they realized this Pidgeot was at least two to three times larger than the average Pidgeot currently found in the Kanto region. It was incredibly exaggerated…
“But this Pidgeot feels strangely familiar somehow.” Ash, Brock, and Misty held their heads in thought. After thinking carefully for a moment, Misty suddenly exclaimed, “Ash, Brock, do you remember? In the images shown by the Time Flower, we saw Sir Aaron riding away on a Pidgeot. That Pidgeot was absurdly huge too.”
“Sir Aaron’s Pidgeot? No way… How could a Pidgeot possibly live for over a thousand years!”
Ash and Brock were still arguing when Terrance suddenly smacked both of them and said, “Stop arguing. That’s not a Pidgeot. It’s probably the transformed Mew.”
Terrance’s words instantly shocked everyone, but before they could react, the “Pidgeot” quickly flew toward the Tree of Beginning and disappeared from sight.
“But why would Mew fly away…” Ash asked in confusion.
“It’s probably because there are too many strangers around you. Let’s follow it directly.”
As Terrance spoke, he was the first to move forward. Following the direction Mew had departed in, the group soon entered a canyon.
While traversing the canyon, Albus suddenly stopped in his tracks after catching a fleeting glimpse of something and called out to the others.
His gaze locked tightly onto a protruding crystal high above them as he said in shock, “The fourth piece…”
This crystal carried the same fluctuations as the ore used to make Aura gloves. However, unlike the ore Albus had found in the outside world, this one possessed an obvious characteristic. That characteristic caused both Terrance and Albus to suddenly realize something.
“So it really is a Time Flower.”
Seeing the strange flower beside the blue crystal, Terrance’s gaze sharpened. A Time Flower companion rock?
The Time Flower, a mysterious flower that could be activated with Aura power to replay scenes from the river of history, existed only around the Tree of Beginning. To this day, when these flowers bloomed and withered remained a mystery. However, it seemed that regardless of whether Time Flowers in a fixed area died or were newly born, there existed a special connection between them, allowing them to influence one another…
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